Education Foundation celebrates 26 year anniversary

Twenty-six years ago, Alleghany resident and former Alleghany County School Superintendent John Woodruff formed the Alleghany Education Foundation as a means to give back to the community.

Woodruff describes himself as "an old country boy that's had a chance to educate people."

Woodruff is the husband of 50 years to Rita Woodruff and father of grown son Jay who resides in Raleigh.

Throughout his many years of service to the county, Woodruff has served as a teacher, principal and superintendent of schools. As chairman of the Recreation Commission, Woodruff said, "I built five tennis courts, a swimming pool, a softball field and made Sam Brown Park. The park, located near Davis Field in Sparta, is named after Alleghany County's first superintendent of public instruction.

Woodruff is the youngest son of Flossie and Wilmer Woodruff, and credits his mother for being his greatest influence.

"My greatest influence was my mother who was truthful, hard working and dedicated to the best things of life," he said.

Woodruff noted the idea for an education foundation came from learning a neighboring county was going to form one.

"I just thought it was a great idea," he said. "So, I set about our county doing one and we got a fellow from the state department of instruction to come up here and make a speech, invited a bunch of folks to come in here."

In 1980, the Education Foundation was formed under the umbrella of the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce and its first donation, in the amount of $5,000, came from First Citizens Bank.

Woodruff noted while he served as president of the foundation, Lib Goodman assisted him, taking care of the financial end of things. Although the foundation existed initially under the auspices of the chamber, after five years of operation it was officially chartered as a separate organization.

After 17 years of assisting Woodruff, Goodman stepped down as secretary. The position was then filled by Karen Leys, who currently serves as finance officer for the Alleghany County School System.

"They've done a super job of looking after the money and paying out the scholarships and keeping records of it," Woodruff said.

When asked about the goal behind the creation of the Education Foundation, Woodruff said, "We just wanted to raise some money to help some kids go through college," he said. One of the foundation's projects is "The Top 20," held in May of each year. The foundation sponsors the event held at Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation and serves as a means to honor students who are in the head of the class. During the evening, the students are served a meal and presented plaques for their achievements in front of their parents. The students also select a high school faculty member to talk about them in front of their peers and parents.

Looking at the years the foundation has helped county students thus far, Woodruff said, "It's been very enjoyable for me to work with through these years and help kids."

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